A French oil tanker was reported missingoff theIvory Coast on February 3 and was probablycaptured by pirates off the shore of Nigeria, stated the International Maritime Bureau.

The ship, whichflies the flagof Luxembourg,has 17crew members."The owner lost contacton February 3. "We believehe was detained with17 mariners on board,"said NoelChoong, headof thedivisioninBMI piracy monitoring agency, which is based in Malaysia."The Luxembourg authorities havebeen informed ofthisincidentby Sea-Tankers, the French shipowner's firm. The situation is beingclosely followedby Sea-Tankers' crisis group and the relevant authorities, said a statement by the government of Luxembourg.

Until now, the republic of Ivory Coast, (Côted'Ivoire)had been free of the piracy that plagues the Gulf of Guinea. Such piracy is a commonplace in nearby Nigeria, the largest producerof petroleum Africa, where piracyhas recently shown an uptick in the waters off Benin, whereattacks on ships have increased significantly since 2011.

France is also contending with Islamist insurgents in Mali, where it has come to the aid of the Malian government and routed terrorists last week in and around the historic city of Timbuktu.

Spero News editor Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat, who also worked as a democracy advocate and election observer in Latin America. He is also a freelance translator.